The Ministry of Industry and Trade noted in a statement on Monday that there is no imbalance between fuel supply and demand, after some fuel distributors have recently complained about a fuel undersupply, especially for the higher-grade petrol A95.

Staff of a Petrolimex gas station in HCMC refills motorcycles 

According to the ministry, the global oil and gas market has recently witnessed fluctuations in supply and demand as well as prices, which have affected the domestic fuel market. However, the ministry has asked wholesale traders to ensure an adequate fuel supply for manufacturing, business and consumer activities. They were also asked to provide an adequate uninterrupted fuel supply to their own distributors.

The ministry cited the reports of some wholesale fuel traders and industry and trade departments as noting that fuel supplies in the local market are still sufficient. These traders have also pledged to make sure that their supplies for their own retail systems continue without interruption.

If supplies from local fuel plants do not meet demand effectively, the traders are advised to seek fuel imports to guarantee the fuel supply in the domestic market, according to the ministry.

The ministry stated that it has asked the Vietnam Directorate of Market Surveillance to strengthen checks on retail gas stations and fuel firms. Traders caught committing violations related to fuel trading will face severe penalties.

In the latest fuel price adjustment on March 18, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Finance gave fuel wholesalers the go-ahead to use more from the fuel price stabilization fund to keep prices stable.

Fuel outlets were permitted to tap a record high of VND2,801 from the fund for every liter of E5 RON92 biofuel petrol sold to compensate for the gap between the base and retail prices, up VND801 against the previous adjustment.

In addition, they are allowed to spend VND2,061 per liter of RON95 gasoline, a higher-grade type of fossil gasoline, against the previous VND1,250. As a result, petrol prices remain unchanged compared with the previous adjustment.

However, Ngo Tri Long, former director of the Price Market Research Institute under the Finance Ministry, told Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper that tapping the fund at these levels is unreasonable and could lead to the reduction of its reserve capacity and put pressure on inflated fuel prices in the next adjustment.

Cao Hoai Duong, general director of the State-owned PetroVietnam Oil Corporation (PV Oil), was quoted by the news website Vietnamnet as saying that so far this year, global petroleum prices have seen consecutive hikes, whereas local prices have mainly remained unchanged, with only one upward price adjustment in the past many weeks.

Chairman of the Vietnam Petroleum Association Phan The Rue stated in Vietnamnet that this method of price management causes local retail fuel prices to neither reflect their true prices nor align with market prices. The governance method is of administrative nature, which interferes with enterprises’ business operations.

It also makes small businesses miserable, he added. Because of the price stabilization fund, they have to incurr losses.

Sale suspension of RON95

Today, some gas stations in Hanoi announced that they are only selling E5 RON92 biofuel petrol and are suspending sales of RON95 or A95 gasoline due to a shortage in its supply, according to Tuoi Tre newspaper.

An employee of a gas station on Giai Phong Street, which is a unit of Military Petrochemical JSC (MIPEC), told the newspaper that the station has been unable to replenish its supplies of RON95 gasoline in recent days. “It is still unknown when RON95 will be available again,” noted the source.

Another MIPEC gas station on Nguyen Phong Sac Street is suffering the same fate.

A third gas station, situated on Kham Thien Street, of HFC Petroleum Corporation has only two fuel dispensers, one of which used to be a RON95 pump and now has to be replaced with biofuel.

The employees of the station told Tuoi Tre that due to the shortage in supply, they were now unable to import RON95.

Meanwhile, the State-run Vietnam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex) has an abundant stock of products and still sells RON95 gasoline as usual.

A representative told Lao Dong newspaper that all of the company’s production and business activities have contingency plans to ensure adequate supplies of petroleum products for the local market.

The source added that the company has already adopted long-term plans to purchase fuel supplies at home and abroad to avoid interruptions to the fuel supply.

SGT